 Kenny (left) will be in the dugout with assistant Paul Hegarty |
Stephen Kenny has insisted that his coming home to manage Derry City in Sunday's Carlsberg FAI Cup final at Lansdowne Road is not his own ego-trip. The recently-appointed Dunfermline boss will take charge of the Candystripes for one final time against St Pat's.
"It's not an egotistical drive (on my part)," Kenny told BBC Sport.
"It's about this group of players trying to finish this season on a high and getting the result that their efforts deserve."
Kenny was back in Derry on Wednesday morning to put the players through a training session before returning to Scotland ahead of Dunfermline's away league clash against Kilmarnock on Saturday.
"It's a been a busy week with early mornings and late nights before of the job in hand," reflected the Dubliner.
"Kilmarnock are sixth in the table and going strong. I saw them play Rangers at the weekend at Ibrox."
 | It's going to be a real scrap but I'd be confident that we (Dunfermline) will stay up |
In terms of his new club, the odds appeared stacked against Kenny at the moment with 11 players currently on the treatment table, including a number of long-term absentees.
Dunfermline will go into Saturday's game three points behind second-bottom club Motherwell and with an inferior goal-difference into the bargain.
"It's certainly one where you are going to have to roll your sleeves up but we are not even halfway into the season.
"Most people who would know me would know that I wouldn't be thinking about getting relegated. It's going to be a real scrap but I'd be confident that we will stay up."
Kenny expressed satisfaction with the sharpness exhibited by the Derry squad in Wednesday's training session and he paid tribute to the work of his Brandywell backroom team.
"(My assistant) Paul Hegarty is tremendous and Declan Devine and Colm O'Neill are top-quality people as well.
"The players looked very sharp and lively. We played 11 v 11 over three 20-minute periods and were looking at different players and making sure everybody is on their toes."
| People like Paddy McCourt, Barry Molloy and Kevin Deery are all heroes of the young players in Derry now. It's not only about the Premiership |
The 35-year-old acknowledges that managing two teams in one weekend in big games is "unusual but you are a professional and you do what you do".
Derry are likely to bring over 8,000 supporters to Lansdowne Road, which is probably the biggest tribute that can be paid to Kenny at the end of his two-year Brandywell reign.
"And people like Paddy McCourt, Barry Molloy and Kevin Deery are all heroes of the young players in Derry now. It's not only about the Premiership.
"Derry as a city has gained a massive reputation this year because of the passion, colour and noise that was on show when we travelled to Gothenburg, France and Scotland."
When asked whether Sunday will be an emotional day for himself, Kenny, typically, counters that it will be "emotional for every supporter, every player, every family member, every member of the coaching staff and all the club volunteers".
"It's a tremendous ocasion and we want to enjoy it and for the players to express themselves the way they can.
"But St Pat's are a formidable team. They have players like Paul Keegan, Trevor Molloy and Mark Rutherford who has played in eight or nine (cup) finals.
"Players like that can turn it on at any time so we've got to ensure that our forward players, the Becketts, the Farrens and the McCourts come alive and do their stuff."
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